Archive for the ‘Philippines’ tag

As much as rust posed a problem to early Jeep enthusiasts here in the United States, it laid waste to the population of Jeeps left behind in the humid and damp Philippines after World War II. Yet, those Jeeps became a huge cultural symbol there once local craftsmen learned to shape brand-new bodies out of stainless steel.

Here in the United States, stainless never caught on as a material for replacement bodies, but one man in Oregon aims to introduce Americans to stainless steel bodies as an alternative to the fiberglass and regular steel replacement bodies currently on the market. Del Blanchard, of Myrtle Creek, Oregon, through his many contacts in the Philippines, imported a limited batch of stainless steel bodies for Jeep CJ-3As and CJ-3Bs about a dozen years ago, but at the time didn’t think it’d be worth importing any more.

“I thought it was an interesting experience, but I just let it slide,” Del said. “But people wouldn’t leave me alone about them.”

A couple of years ago, he started planning to import more to satisfy the demand, but found that the Filipino stainless steel body cottage industry had collapsed. For instance, in San Pablo City, which once supported 65 stainless body builders, Del said he couldn’t find one still in operation. The influx of inexpensive Japanese automobiles – which featured air conditioning – during that time period made enclosed transportation available to rich and poor Filipinos alike for the first time and thus destroyed the market for old Jeeps. Regardless, Del found one third-generation craftsman there still willing to not only build bodies, but also salvage old dies and create new dies, and now has begun importing shipping containers full of the bodies, with a container or two of bodies stamped in galvanized steel on their way shortly.

“We set out to create a body kit more complete than anything else on the market,” Del said. “The only thing we don’t include is the chassis and running gear.”

He also noted that he has no plans to build CJ-5 or later Jeep bodies, though he does offer the stainless bodies with a 14.5-inch stretch in wheelbase. Prices for the stainless bodies start at $3,988, while prices for the galvanized bodies start at $2,882. For more information, visit CJ3A-CJ3B-bodykits.com.

Calling this Jeep a CJ-5 might be a little misleading. Aside from the grille, windshield, and most likely the chassis, there’s not much Jeep actually left in this mishmash. But the Philippine license plate tells us that it’s instead something more than a garden-variety bitsa; instead, it’s a Jeepney, a staple of public transportation in the Philippines, and the only example I’ve so far seen in the United States. From the seller’s description:

Nissan Diesel Engine, Rough but Restorable, still has Philipene Tags, a really unusual project. If it could only talk.

Indeed, it might be a very cool project to trace its history back across the Pacific.